Est. 1870.1870: Brown-Forman was founded by George Garvin Brown and his half-brother, John Thompson Street Brown, Jr., operating as J. T. S. Brown & Bro. George Brown had previously worked with a drug company. The firm purchased quality straight whiskies from J.M. Atherton Co., (the Atherton and Mayfield distilleies, the Mellwood distillery in Louisville (RD #34, 5th District), and J.B.Mattingly at St. Marys in Marion county, which they blended and sold in the form of barrel goods as "Sidroc Bourbon", "Atherton Bourbon", and "Mellwood Bourbon". Later they introduced the "Old Forrester" brand (eventually becoming "Old Forester") , named after a Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Old Forrester was sold in bottles to prevent adulteration by unscrupulous wholesalers and saloon-keepers and thereby established a quality brand that the company became famous for.

1872: J. T. S. Brown & Bro. hired George Forman of Paris, KY, as a salesman. Forman later became the company's bookkeeper.

1873: Henry Chambers became a major stockholder in the firm, so it was renamed Brown, Chambers & Co. Chambers was associated with a drug company and had given George Brown his first job. J.T.S. Brown left the partnership sometime soon afterwards.

1876: James Thompson, a native of Ireland and a relative, was hired.

1879: James Thompson and George Forman formed a sales agency to represent Brown, Chambers & Co.

1881: Henry Chambers retired and sold his shares in Brown, Chambers & Co. to George Brown, James Thompson and George Forman. The company was renamed Brown, Thompson & Co., with Forman as a junior partner.

1890: Thompson sold out to George Brown and George Forman in order to buy the Glenmore Distillery from the Monarch estate. The name then became Brown, Forman & Co., Brown owning 90% and Forman 10% of the partnership.

1892: the company was being supplied by the Pleasure Ridge Park distillery of Kentucky's 5th district: see the distillery listing for more details.

1901: George Forman died and his widow sold his share in the company to George Brown and was granted permission to continue the name. George Brown incorporated as Brown-Forman Co., capital $100,000.

Please report any errors, glitches or typos in this vendor listing page using the
comment box below. New information on the history of this business is particularly welcome!

NOTE - we don't have any additional information on this business other than what you see here. New information is added as it is received or discovered, so check back here occasionally. If you have questions about a bottle, you need to consult the experts: we do not have an answer for you, sorry!

IMPORTANT: if you wish to receive a reply, you MUST include your e-mail address!